He's Got A Plan, Not Just A Paddle

Day 94:  Leviticus 4, Psalm 94 & 2 Samuel 14

I'm just gonna jump in today because I'm in love with this concept!

In 2 Samuel as we looked yesterday Amnon had raped Tamar and for that his brother Absolom killed him - well deserved.  But because they were both sons of King David Absolom was allowed to live although in exile.  However, King David knew of Amnon's sin and so, though he was angry with Absolom for exacting the punishment, he knew it was just.

Anyway, after some time Joab, King David's right hand man could sense that David desired to have Absolom restored to him but couldn't bring himself to ask for it.  So Joab devised a plan and with the help of a wise woman from Tekoa, he carried it out to perfection.

I won't go into all that had happened, you can read 2 Samuel 14 if you'd like all the details, however, in the speech by the woman from Tekoa she says one thing that I just really loved.  In her story to the king she makes this statement, "God does not take away life, but plans ways so that the banished one will not be cast out from Him." I love that!

Now, I will be honest with you because if you're a skeptic reading this you're gonna call me on it anyway.  God has taken away life.  We've read a whole host of times that He has done that already this year and we're not even a 1/3 of the way through the Old Testament.  However, that is NOT God's first choice.  And when it does come time for that punishment it is either justified by the sin or there have been ways He's tried to bring about a change in the person(s) but it hasn't worked.

I would assert that God's first desire is not to take away life but to find a way to bring those who have been cast out back into relationship with Him.  That is, after all, the point of Jesus and the cross!  We were all banished because of our sin, but because God did not desire to take away our lives He sent His Son to the cross in our place that we would no longer be banished because of sin but instead restored.

And if you happen to be reading this and stand condemned because of your sin you need to know that God's desire is not to take away your life, but He has been consistently planning ways to end your banishment so that you will not be cast out, but brought into relationship!

Every experience you have in life has one goal from God's perspective, they are His plans to end your banishment.  You may not recognize the blessings or discipline or punishment as a plan, but I guarantee you that is exactly what they are.  He has a plan for you to be in relationship with Him so that when His Son returns you will not ultimately be cast out, but brought in.

So that fight you got into.  That arrest.  Your argument with your spouse or child or boss.  That car wreck or DUI or overdoes... those were all part of His plan to put you in a place where you could hear His voice and would respond to His call.  He is not seeking your death but your life.  And not a life separated from Himself, banished, but a life of relationship and involvement.

Do you feel like your on the outside looking in?  Does it feel like God is out to get you?  A little change in perspective will help you see that He IS out to get you - to get you from the sin you're caught in.  To get you from the darkness and bring you into the light.  To get you from the grip of satan, fear, death and depression and bring you into love, life and the hand of Jesus.

God is planning right now, the "good" and the "bad" together, for the purpose of restoring you to Himself as He's desired all along.  To end your banishment and rescue you from being cast out. You don't have to be an spiritual orphan any more.  Your time in Satan's foster care system can end.  You can be a child of God.

He's got a plan.  Trust it.

A Lesson In Sin From A Story Of Credit

Day 93:  Leviticus 3, Psalm 93 & 2 Samuel 13

Several times in my life I have just had to have something and couldn't wait.  You've been there, right?  Perhaps it was a new video game, the latest apple device or technology.  When you just have to have to have something you'll do anything to justify it's expense.  Often, that new gadget, piece of furniture or clothing item or jewelry, gets put on a credit card because we just have to have it right now.  And many times, while we're still paying the credit card company for that item we just couldn't live without something new and improved catches our eye.  Then what we have doesn't seem so great anymore.

I wonder if this could be sin for me?  The Bible say that I am to be content and also that I shouldn't be in debt.  But I show a lack of contentment and a disregard for God by actively purchasing things on credit that I know I can't afford right now.  In the end, that item that I just had to get becomes something that I hate because I end up paying for something long after it's newness and technology becomes outdated.

In the 2 Samuel passage for today you will read the story of Amnon and Tamar.  Amnon, one of King David's sons, was in love with Tamar.  He was so in love with her that it made him ill.  One of his friends, one of those "friends" that probably often got him in trouble and was a bad influence, helped him devise a plan to be alone with Tamar.  The plan went like this:

• Pretend to be sick to gain the sympathy of your father the King
• Tell the King you would feel better if Tamar came to your home and made you some food
• Tamar will come because she also has sympathy for you and wants to see you well.
• When the time is right send all your attendants away so you and Tamar are alone
• Do whatever you please.

And that is exactly what happened.  Amnon lied to his father David.  Deceived Tamar.  Plotted to be alone with her and then raped her.  

Tamar tried to get Amnon to stop and even told him that if he just asked his father, David, he would give Tamar to him as his wife.  But Amnon didn't want to wait that long.

Amnon had four opportunities to get out of the sin he had planned to commit.  Once the plan was in place he could have simply not followed through with it.  He could have recognized his friends poor advice and left it alone.  Even after lying to the King he had the opportunity to simply eat the food Tamar had prepared and send her away without committing sin.  He could have chosen not to send away all his attendants so that he would not have been alone with her and therefore had not opportunity to violate her.  And once he had her alone he could have taken her good advice and asked his father for her hand so that he would not have committed sin.

But he refused all four opportunities.  He carried out his evil plot and his sin was established.  But once he had taken what he wanted the text says that he actually, "hated her more than he had loved her" and had her sent away.  Which she again tried to talk him out of saying that this sin would be worst than the first.  But he would not listen.

Sin is like this, it builds on itself a little at a time until it is complete.  And with every step closer to the sin it becomes harder to walk away from.  In the end we are paying for something that we no longer want.  Discipline from God is best avoided on the front end.

The Bible says that you will not be tempted beyond what you can bear.  But when you are tempted to sin God will always provide a way to stand up under it so you do not sin.  Amnon had multiple chances to stand up and avoid his sin, but with every step he took he became more mired in his own lust and depravity.  

Stop listening to those who would give you poor advice or actually provide you with ways to sin.  When God presents you with an out, take it.  Even to the moment you are ready to sin God is still offering you the chance to stop, you only go too far when you've actually committed the sin, stop it before it gets there.  But better yet, never plot evil and you will be much better off.